Meeting Mr. Penguin on his first day at work

Relocating from the freezing continent of Antarctica, Mr. Penguin is now chilling out in a mall and putting his feet-shuffling to good use in our fight against Covid-19.

Who do I want to be during Covid-19?

Image credits: University of Colorado Boulder 

Learning About Cleanliness The Hard Way

From young we have been told to wash our hands before our meals and keep the germs away. 

Now, we wash our hands more times than ever before and sanitise whatever handles (door, toilet flush) and surfaces (tabletop, lift buttons, handphones) that we need to lay our fingers or hands on. No need to sanitise each other though, as we observe social distancing (be a good example, ya).

When I read the Holy Bible concerning unclean animals, it was with passing understanding. My gloss-over understanding was that these animals have bad hygiene and are dirty. 

Now, I know better that God has been warning us a long time ago, before the scientist has seen the light of day, that these animals host viruses!

Jestingly, Batman is in the hiding because bats are, seriously, listed as unclean. The book of Leviticus (chapter 11, verses 13 - 18; NIV version) from the Old Testament of the Holy Bible records for us that: 

“‘These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black kite, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat." 

The indifference of Covid-19 is depicted in the following poem:-

"For all of us who don’t know

We can read what we want to read

Believe what we want to believe

Hope what we want to hope

Say what we want to say

Eloquently, beautifully, compellingly, persuasively

Presidents, prime ministers, dictators

We can blog, tweet, post, proclaim

Reach thousands, millions

We can want what we want

Do what we want

COVID-19 is not impressed." -- Ken Dryden

What hope do we have then? 

It's back to the Holy Bible for us all. God has the power (ability to do things) for what is beyond us and God looks at our heart to see if we are taking His Word seriously.

Photo by David Beale on Unsplash

"One thing God has spoken,

    two things I have heard:

“Power belongs to you, God,

and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;

and, “You reward everyone

    according to what they have done.” -- Psalm 62:11-12 (NIV)

"“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place." --2 Chronicles 7:13-15 (NIV)

We have (in our human power) poured out care packages and clapped our hands to thank and honour our frontline medical staff fighting the scourge of this pandemic.

On that first Good Friday some two thousand years ago in history, Jesus of Nazareth was scourged with a whip and crucified on a cross at Calvary for the sins of the whole world in fulfilment of biblical prophecy.

The Word of God affirms this concerning Jesus' death:-

"But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed." -- Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

Join me, if you will, and declare that by the stripes that Jesus bore on His body with blood for the remission of sins, we are healed by faith and through faith in the name of JESUS. Amen.

God is speaking to us through this difficult time just as He has been doing so through the ages; He is ready to hear our prayers. 

It's time to pray and turn the tide as we begin to realise that many of our so-called important things in life will come to a standstill to alert us that it is in our best interest to look up to our God and Creator of all things, and take His Word seriously.

How To Look Good In A Mask

If you are bespectacled, you would remember how it felt when you put on a pair of spectacles for the first time, not because you want to but because you have to. You felt self-conscious of what others might think and you would have used the mirror for the umpteenth time to check out your new look.

With Covid-19 still on a swing, you would inevitably find yourself having to don a surgical mask and the like to protect yourself from infection and, at the same time, prevent infecting others while observing new norms such as social distancing (density reduction) and staying at home, except when attending to essential needs like grocery and medical.

Hence, the mask is now a staple apparel that you wear and this is my take on how you can appear more soothing in your appearance amidst the crowd with jarring blue surgical mask. 

The first tip is to find a mask (or make your own medical-grade mask) that matches the colour of your hair or headgear; the closer the match the better. Blue with blue and silver with silver.

Alternatively, match your topwear (blouse, dress, shirt or t-shirt) with the colour of your mask, or vice-versa.

If you don't believe me, just observe others with such sublime colour coordination and you will notice that their masks blend in nicely instead of being a standout.

Photo by Samuele Giglio on Unsplash

Looking good in a colour-coordinated mask will dampen the alarming face of standard-colour surgical masks and smoothen its edges. 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' still holds true in this pensive period.

Do your part, stay at home. If you have to go out, wear a mask and look good in it, if you can help it.

Thank you for reading and sharing Daily Refreshing. Stay safe and healthy. 

Best Curry Chicken Rice in Singapore

As a frequent customer of Heavenly Wang near my workplace, I have enjoyed their quality kopi O, hot lemon tea and kaya toast.

While on a hospital visit earlier this year, I chanced upon the following Heavenly Wang outlet at Ng Teng Fong Hospital and tried their curry chicken for lunch.

The set of curry contains a chicken drumstick, two pieces of potato, and a slice of hard-boiled egg as well as a plate of brown rice with achar and a piece of prawn cracker. You could also make it a combo meal with an added hot coffee or tea, and toasted bread with kaya and/or butter.

Having had my fills of curry from meals of nasi briyani, roti prata, lontong, Hainanese curry rice, Chinese economical rice and Japanese curry rice, my palate would be discerning of what is great.

As it turned out, I was resoundingly won over by the taste of Heavenly Wang's curry chicken rice. The chicken meat was tender as with the potatoes and the curry blended excellently with the rice. It was a happy meal for me, and I would drop by on subsequent visits. 

On the lookout now for it at the outlet near my workplace if still available at dinnertime as lunchtime is a bit of a rush for me to slow down and enjoy a nice meal.

Heavenly Wang's curry chicken is my nomination for the best curry chicken rice in Singapore. 

Please feel free to post and share in the comments on what is your favourite curry and where to find it.

Thank you for reading and sharing Daily Refreshing.

Say Hello to OHIO

It's been a while since my previous post and I'm gonna to make it with at least one post for March 2020. Thank you for your patience and readership.

Time to meet and, possibly, embrace OHIO (Only Handle It Once). This guiding principle is immensely useful when handling e-mails and also documents landing on your IN-tray.

Photo by Anthony Martinez on Unsplash

You will need OHIO in order to cope comfortably by handling those e-mails and paper only once as follows:-

1. Focus and concentrate as you read the written messages.

2. Read it in entirety (so that nothing is missed out) and with comprehension.

3. Read again, if necessary, until you get the the correct understanding.

4. Decide what to do with it:

4.1 Reply to the e-mail or provide your response to the document.

4.2 Redirect it to the appropriate person.

4.3 Save the e-mail in relevant folder or file the document in relevant arch file.

4.4 Thrash it.

5. Move on to the next thing. 

To sidetrack with a sprinkling of trivia, Ohio is a state in the East North Central region of the Midwestern United States with Columbus as its capital. And, you utter ohayo gozaimasu in Japanese to say "Good morning".

OHIO will free up your brain for other matters at hand and help you alleviate a traffic jam in your mind.

May you get a handle on OHIO and keep the fogs away from your mind.

Thank you for reading and sharing Daily Refreshing.

P.S. Stay safe and healthy amidst the Covid-19 outbreak. 

Inspiration Is All Around (29/02/2020)

The following words of inspiration are written on a tote bag:-

WITHOUT A FRIEND TO SHARE THEM NO GOOD WE POSSESS ARE REALLY ENJOYABLE.

The following 2 slogans were sighted on T-shirts which would be complicated if I were to ask the respective wearers to oblige with a photoshoot:-

NEVER STOP LEARNING BECAUSE LIFE NEVER STOP TEACHING
It has been said that if we don't learn something well, it will come around again to challenge us. 

As we learn, life will present new stuffs for us to learn some more. The learning never stop as life is a university.


UNITY OVER ADVERSITY
An adversity such as the outbreak of Covid-19 can wreak havoc and create chaos such as panic buying of basic necessities like rice, noodles and toilet rolls. 

At times of adversity, it is when we need to be united the most by being considerate towards others and lending a helping hand.

There is strength in numbers. When those number of persons are unified in purpose, they become a force to be reckoned with.

Please feel free to share words of inspiration that you have come across by posting to the comments section below.

Thank you for supporting Daily Refreshing with your readership.